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11.05.2007

News of the day, 11/5

Hey everyone. A few readers disagree with my assertion that Kodi Burns' best-cast career scenario now mirrors Jason Campbell's: Two years of badness, one year of pretty good play, one year of MVP play. Look, we're almost finished with Year One of Badness. Do you really think Burns will be mistaken for Andre Woodson or Matt Ryan next year?

I'm not trashing the kid. Not by a long shot. He's 18, I know that, and he certainly has a LONG time to refine his skills. What I'm saying is that Auburn (and others) talked about Burns like he was ready. The coaches chose to play him as a true freshman, which indicated that they thought he was ready to contribute in some way. Now Blake Field is the backup. Why not leave Burns on the scout team and let him learn like every single Tuberville quarterback before him?

If Field was good enough to be the backup all along, why burn a year of Burns' eligibility? It seems wasteful.

Thanks for peeping the HOTTEST Auburn blog on the 'net.

ESPN is reporting that Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione is in negotiations for a contract buyout. You know what that means: Tuberville will become an official candidate soon. Athletic director Jay Jacobs said during the weekend that he planned to talk with Tuberville at season's end, as is customary for all coaches, and formulate a plan from there. I would guess the timetable will be moved up.

Here are some things to keep in mind as the madness begins:*Tuberville is in the third year of a seven-season deal worth approximately $18.2 million. He is making approximately $2.4 million this season.

*The contract includes a two-way buyout clause of $6 million.

*The contract includes detailed language requiring Tuberville or anyone acting on his "expressed authority" to obtain expressed permission from Auburn to negotiate with another school or professional team. There also is a phrase indicating that Tuberville's people can't "directly or indirectly" speak with possible employers without Auburn's permission. So there won't be any lurking, so to speak.

Let's just say that Texas A&M fires Dennis Franchione. I consider that "imminent."

Then what? It'll all come down to how much The Important Trustees value Tuberville in financial terms. That's the real question. Would he be worth $3.5 million? Could Auburn get something better for that kind of money? I'm not touching that one with a 10-foot pole, of course, but these are the kinds of questions shrewd Auburn fans should be asking themselves ... in that pretend world where your opinion matters.

6 Comments:

kyle said...

By being #3 on the depth chart, does that mean that Kodi Burns won't come in at all like he has a few times in the past few games? Or does it mean that Blake Field is the QB if Cox gets hurt, and Burns will continue to play a small role?

Burns will continue to play a small role allegedly. If Brandon gets hurt, Blake will be the full-time replacement. If Brandon doesn't get hurt, the possibility exists that Kodi will still make his one or two appearances per game.

Jay, I think you are reading a little bit too much into Kodi's 4 pass attempts and Tuberville's coach speak.

I thought Kodi looked like he has great potential for the coming years from watching the MSU game (his best body of work to draw conclusions from).

If you want to take everything Tommy says on "Tuesday's with Tommy" literally, then I guess you can - but keep in mind - they can not afford to have Field quit the team this offseason, and sticking him on special teams his Jr year is probably a good way to do that. I think they realized this and the plan all along was to make sure that he got enough snaps and good "coach-speak" to make sure he will stick around.

Blake is pretty much stuck here either way. He already has used his redshirt season. He's got one year left. I don't see how he could make miracles happen at another school considering he only has one year left.

And taking Tuberville literally is what I do for a living. I'm not a columnist. He says it, I write it. Done deal.

Well, I guess scoring a touchdown against Florida at their home the first time you run the ball in a game where even you (Jay) said we wouldn't win is a waste of time. What do you have against this kid? I think he's been great for this team and has a lot of potential. I also, think Blake playing special teams to help the team is good also. The man's a tough guy, and this shows his unselfishness, and he'll probably be the best one to run our offense next year. I guess the experience Kodi's gained is a waste also. After all every guy must know how it feels to throw and run for TD's in college football! I guess Florida should have redshirted Tebow last year also!

Blake's not completely stuck at AU; the formula for a backup QB with one year of eligibility who wants a shot at the pros is well-known - find a good D1-AA program without a returning QB and hope you can put up big numbers against the lesser competition while you lead the team deep into the playoffs.

As for Burns' future; a four-year starter is pretty rare - Jason Campbell wasn't one, heck even Tim Tebow will only start three years. It's a minor issue that his redshirt was burned without a major result this year.

Kodi's poor performance in his first outing with free reins isn't exactly a solid indicator of his future performance either. Do you remember Brandon's first start against GaTech? (only 22/44 with 4 INT) How'd you think the rest of that season, much less his career, would go?